Cochin is a fast developing commercial and tourist destination. But the city has its own problems – traffic jams, garbage strewn over the place, open drains, potholes, narrow roads and so on. What is it that can be done to make it a much better place to live? This is exactly what CPPR wishes to find out under Reinventing Cochin project….the part played by the state and civil society

Thursday, August 11, 2016

The Paradise Road

By Ananthitha A*

Bad roads, bad roads, bad roads
everywhere. Out of the 15 km from my home to office, at least 2 km is fully
damaged with gutters, potholes and cracks, 12 km is partially damaged and the
rest 1 km an assurance to the believe the myth that, ‘roads in Kerala can be in
good condition’.

Who is responsible for the
horrible state of our roads?

They blame many. They blame the rain. They say,
the torrential rains in Kerala weaken the bond between the tar/bitumen and
stone. They say the rains hinder the repair works also and thus the roads are
all and more damaged by rains.

They blame the trees on road
sides. To add to the cruelties of this villain rain, the drainage less roads
have big trees on roadsides at many places. The dripping rainwater from trees
is poison to the tar, killing it drop by drop!

They blame the sun. They say, the
scorching heat of the sun melt the tar and ruin our roads.

They blame the wind. They say,
the winds blow away the stones leaving the sticky tar.

They blame the speeding vehicles
and their rubber tyres.They blame the
unruly drivers.

Oh God! So many to be blamed.

So, how can we protect and save
our roads? You mean, we should avoid all the culprits from road? Yes. Keep
away, the rain, the sun, the winds, the trees and most importantly, the
vehicles with their drivers from our delicate roads.Then what are the roads meant for?

That’s true. Then is tar/bitumen
the culprit? “During the early and mid-20th century when town gas was produced,
coal tar was a readily
available by product and extensively used as the binder for road aggregates”, says Wikipedia. So, isn’t it time to move
ahead?

It is heard that in Netherlands,
there are roads made for absorbing the rainwater which thus allows for
recharging the groundwater. So rain should not be a villain to our roads too!

Many cities in the developed
world encourage the planting of trees along
public streets. Healthy
tree-lined streets are a key component of the ‘Urban Forest’, states the ‘Urban
Forest Plan’ of San Francisco.‘The
Urban Forest Plan’ provides a strategy to create a more sustainable urban
forest and a truly green city. So street trees should not be villains to our
roads too!

“A solar roadway is a modular
system of specially engineered solar panels that can be walked and driven upon.
Missouri's Department of Transportation is aiming to install a test
version of the startup's solar road tiles in a sidewalk at the Historic Route
66 Welcome Center in Conway”. How can we now call sun a villain to roads?

There are researches going on
trying to understand whether, the road transport pressure can be used to
generate electricity. Yes, the speed and brakes are not villains too.

So, what is our choice? To be
part of the blame game and suffer silently/violently in these bad roads? Or
start petitions in change.org asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to start
funding some road research in India? Or become Anniyan and solve all our road
woes on our own?

*Ananthitha A, Environmental Engineer, Ultra-Tech, Environmental Consultancy and Laboratory. Views expressed by the author is personal and does not reflect that of CPPR.